Veteran Trevor Prangley says it's 'now or never' at Bellator 58

Longtime veteran Trevor Prangley (33-8-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC) is no stranger to big fights, but he knows that the future is never guaranteed in mixed martial arts.

So as he prepares for a Bellator 58 non-title fight with middleweight champ Hector Lombard, Prangley knows he must prove he still belongs on the big stage.

“It’s now or never,” Prangley said. “At my age and at this point in my career, I don’t have a choice. I have to win. If I quit the fight I might as well quit the sport.”

At 39 years old, Prangley is actually mired in a 1-3-1 slump. But he’s been given a shot at one of the sport’s most dominant champions in Lombard, and a win would certainly rank among the most impressive highlights of his career.

“Beating Hector Lombard would be up there with one of the best things,” Prangley said. “It’s always good to beat someone on top, and he is on top of his game. It all comes down to me being able to test my skills and see where I am at. It would give me an opportunity to gauge myself and be like, ‘Do I really want to be at that top level or not?’

“I am almost 40 years old, and you have to make a wise decision of whether you can compete at that level or not, and who better to test that with than against someone like Hector?”

“I feel like I am the underdog coming into this fight with Hector,” Prangley said. “I am fighting against a guy who is on a great winning streak, so I am sure the pressure is on him more than it is on me.

“You have to set your own pace, but I’m not going to leave there thinking I should have done more. I have sacrificed six weeks away from my family, and I have a really tough camp here and trained with some of the best guys in the world. I look at it as it’s not just me in the cage, it’s the legacy of the American Kickboxing Academy in that cage, too. The team has done a lot for me in the last nine years and I don’t want to be an embarrassment to them.”

Prangley is 0-2 thus far in 2011 and is in desperate need of a win to remain relevant. Prior to his current slide, Prangley put together an 11-1 run while competing at both 185 and 205 pounds, collecting titles under the Shark Fights, MFC and BodogFIGHT banners. But those glory days are a distant memory for now, and Prangley knows there is much to prove on Saturday night.

“I see a win against a guy like a guy like Hector Lombard as a chance to turn my career around,” Prangley said.

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